NMC Lithium-Ion Battery Patent Landscape Analysis

KnowMade

14th-Oct-2017

Description: Their development in the early 1990’s, lithium-ion batteries have become an essential energy storage device for a wide range of applications, including electronic devices, stationary storage, and electric vehicles. Using Lithium Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt Oxides (NMC, NCM or LiwNixMnyCozO2) in lithium-ion batteries provides high power and energy densities and thermal stability. NMC materials can be tailored to reach a wide range of charge and thus can be used in various types of batteries. According to Yole Développement, NMC materials will dominate the global lithium-ion battery market. They should reaching about 51% of the global cathode material market by 2022, driven by the increasing demand for electrical vehicle applications, according to Yole’s “Status of the Rechargeable Li-ion Battery Industry”report, published in July 2017. The multiple license agreements and the recent patent war between BASF/University of Chicago (Argonne) and Umicore indicate market maturity.

NMC BATTERY IP ACTIVITY IS RAMPING UP ALONG WITH THE MARKET
Since their development in the early 1990’s, lithium-ion batteries have become an
essential energy storage device for a wide range of applications, including electronic devices,
stationary storage and electric vehicles. Using Lithium Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt Oxides (NMC,
NCM or LiwNixMnyCozO2) in lithium-ion batteries provides high power and energy densities
and thermal stability. NMC materials can be tailored to reach a wide range of charge and thus
can be used in various types of batteries. According to Yole Développement, NMC materials
will dominate the global lithium-ion battery market. They should reaching about 51% of the
global cathode material market by 2022, driven by the increasing demand for electrical
vehicle applications, according to Yole’s “Status of the Rechargeable Li-ion Battery Industry”
report, published in July 2017. The multiple license agreements and the recent patent war
between BASF/University of Chicago (Argonne) and Umicore indicate market maturity. The
number of mergers and acquisitions, patent litigations and license agreements should
increase due to the growing number of companies operating in NMC materials, especially
Chinese companies.
The number of enforceable patents is increasing worldwide, and several companies
already stand out thanks to their strong IP position. Therefore, it is a critical time to
understand the global competitive environment of NMC lithium-ion batteries from a patent
perspective. In-depth patent analyses of key technologies and players can help anticipate
changes, detect business opportunities, mitigate risks and make strategic decisions to
strengthen one’s market position and maximize return on one’s IP portfolio.
For this report, we investigated the global patent landscape of NMC Lithium-ion Batteries
including precursor, material, electrode and battery manufacturing issues, and all types of
NMC materials, whether unmodified, modified, core-shell, or mixed with other active or
inactive materials.

More than 3,300 patented inventions have been published worldwide up to March 2017
by more than 590 applicants. The first patents on NMC Li-ion batteries were filed by Japanese
and Korean companies including Sony, Samsung and LG Chem in the late 1990s. The first main
wave of patent publications occurred in 2000s, induced by the emergence of material
manufacturers like AGC, Mitsubishi Chemical, Sumitomo Metal Mining, 3M, BASF, Umicore,
Chinese battery manufacturers BAK and BYD, and universities. Since then, patent publications
have increased strongly thanks to a intense patenting activity from Japanese, Chinese and
Korean battery and material manufacturers, and the emergence of electric vehicle
constructors like Nissan, Toyota, BMW and Chery. The second wave of patent filings combined
with an increase in patent extensions worldwide is an indication of technology maturity and
market growth. Currently, more than 4,000 patents have been granted, mainly in Japan and
China, and more than 3,600 patent applications are pending, mainly in the USA and China.

NMC Lithium-ion Batteries: Patent Landscape Analysis – July 2017

IP position of key patent assignees

KNOW KEY PLAYERS’ IP POSITIONS
More than 590 patent applicants can be found
on the NMC Lithium-ion Battery patent
landscape. The IP position of key players has
been evaluated for precursor, material,
electrode and battery manufacturing issues. For
each of them, the report provides a ranking and
analysis of the relative strength of the top patent
holders derived from their portfolio size, patent
citation network, countries of patent filings and
current patent legal status. We reveal the IP
strength of the key IP players involved in NMC
Lithium-ion Batteries and we depict their
competitive IP positions.
A special focus has been placed on the main
patent litigation, collaborations and license
agreements related to NMC materials.

In this report, we reveal the IP strategy and the technical choices of the main patent assignees. For each supply chain segment, including
precursor, material, electrode and battery, the report includes the description of key technologies, the time evolution of patent
applications, the main patent assignees and their filing countries, the key patents, the patents near expiration date and the recent
patented technologies. For each supply chain segment, the >3,300 patented inventions selected for this study have been categorized by
type of NMC materials, such as non-modified, modified by cation or anion substitution and mixed with other active materials.

COMPARE IP AND MARKET POSITION
The report compares the main IP players and main market
players. For each of them, it highlights the discrepancies
between their market position and their IP position
regarding the supply chain – whether they make
precursor, material, or batteries – and the type of NMC
material, such as un-modified, modified, or core-shell. The
main market players are not always the main IP players.

USEFUL PATENT DATABASE (>8,980 patents)
The report also includes an Excel database containing the
>8,980 patents and patent applications analyzed in the
study. This useful patent database allows multi-criteria
searches and includes patent publication number,
hyperlinks to the original documents, priority date, title,
abstract, patent assignees, technological segments and
legal status for each member of the patent families.

Time evolution of patent publications
Main patent assignees
Time evolution of patent assignees
IP leadership of main patent assignees
IP collaboration network
Licenses of patents from 3M
Licenses of patents from University of Chicago
Publication countries
Countries of patent filings for main patent assignees
Mapping of patenting activity
Time evolution of patent applications by country
Mapping of main current patent holders
Mapping of main current patent applicants
Patenting activity of main patent assignees
Granted patents near expiration date
IP competitors dependency by citations

AUTHORS
Dr Fleur Thissandier works for Knowmade in
the field of Microelectronics and Chemistry.
She holds a PhD in Chemistry of Materials and
Electrochemistry from CEA/INAC, Grenoble,
France. She also holds a Chemistry
Engineering Degree from the Superior
National School of Chemistry (ENSCM),
Montpellier, France
fleur.thissandier@knowmade.fr

Dr Nicolas Baron is CEO and co-founder of
Knowmade. He leads the Physics Department.
He holds a PhD in Physics from the University
of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, and a Master of
Intellectual Property Strategies and Innovation
from the European Institute for Enterprise and
Intellectual Property (IEEPI),
Strasbourg,
France.
nicolas.baron@knwowmade.fr

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